Platform Action Items

Platform Action Items

I created my platform based on three items, they are as follows:

Communication

As I was meeting residents during my nomination process, I was advised of inefficient communications that our residents are dealing with. They feel that relevant information between City Hall should be facilitated down to the residents by their Councillor. A role that my company manages is handling all communications due to provincial requirements to our clients and landowners. It is critical that we close the loop (communication loop) or we cannot move further with our projects. Therefore, I would like to initiate a caller log, in order to track questions or concerns and work towards closing the loop within our ward.We will respond and acknowledge your inquiry via email or telephone, within 48 hours. From there, we will work to obtain an answer for you. We will work on your question and advise you within 5 business days. If we cannot provide you an answer, we will continue to give you updates every 5 days, until we can close our communication loop.

Policing

This was brought to my attention by a young man who is 18 years old. He was looking to obtain a police clearance for his volunteer work when he learned we do not have a police department, east of the river. This surprised me and is the reason why I want to address this within my platform.Since nomination day, I have already started dialogues with the Calgary Police Services to work towards solutions for Ward 12. This dialogue is still open and I have meeting scheduled and have been obtaining new data on a regular basis. In the meantime, I have provided you with statistics for 2016 – 2017 which shows that crime has increased and other awareness materials. As our ward grows and expands, we want to work towards being proactive instead of reactive. Some of the items we are working on are possible solutions for our ward.

Orphan Facilities and Wells

Working within the oil and gas industry, a challenge we face is tracking ownership of assets. Various companies have deals with companies that no longer exist (defunct / struck from the Corporate Registry). The companies may no longer exist but they still had liability with the Facilities and Wells they operated. Some of these sites still have valuable reserves and they could be managed by another party and if no one operates them, they end up going to the Orphan Well Association.With the growth within Ward 12, we are moving towards these types of facilities. (Keep in mind, these facilities were in place way before our development). As two of the sites are up to be decommissioned with the Orphan Well Association, they do not have current plans to work on the affiliate pipelines. Remember these are only two sites out of many. What I would like to work on is to identify sites that can cause serious problems, see if we can get a temporary or a new operator to maintain these sites, to ensure safety, and then work towards abandonment and reclamation with the provincial bodies. The other safety items we need to work on is “Shelter in Place” as evacuation may not be an option. Our first responders have training with respect to these wells, and I want to ensure that they are trained and kept up to date regarding this information, just as any oilfield worker may have.

“Build a globally competitive city that supports a vibrant, diverse and adaptable local economy, maintains a sustainable municipal financial system and does not compromise the quality of life for current and future Calgarians.”

Planning for the long-term sustainability of the local economy ensures that current and future generations are resilient and adaptable to economic cycles and unanticipated changes.

Compact city

“Direct future growth of the city in a way that fosters a more compact, efficient use of land, creates complete communities, allows for greater mobility choices and enhances vitality and character in local.” “Direct future growth of the city in a way that fosters a more compact, efficient use of land, creates complete communities, allows for greater mobility choices and enhances vitality and character in local neighbourhoods.”

A dispersed population creates some social, economic and environmental challenges. In a more compact city, balancing growth between new and developed areas builds vibrant, thriving communities. A compact city is made up of complete communities that provide a broad range of housing choices and services. It also supports high quality transit and transportation choices to get around.

Great communities

“Create great communities by maintaining quality living and working environments, improving housing diversity and choice, enhancing community character and distinctiveness and providing vibrant public places.”

Great communities are adaptable to the needs of current and future residents. They provide a variety of housing options and services so that people can meet their day-to-day needs within their own neighbourhood. Essentially, it is about creating communities where residents can live, work and play.

Good urban design

“Make Calgary an, attractive, memorable and functional city by recognizing its unique setting and dynamic urban character and creating a legacy of quality public and private developments for future generations.” “Make Calgary a liveable, attractive, memorable and functional city by recognizing its unique setting and dynamic urban character and creating a legacy of quality public and private developments for future generations.”

Good urban design happens through collaboration and coordination between various disciplines, creating great public places that people can enjoy. The Municipal Development Plan supports good design throughout the city and encourages design to be considered city-wide.

Development Plan supports good design throughout the city and encourages design to be considered city-wide.

The design of the transportation system has a significant impact on how a city grows and how people get around. The Municipal Development Plan encourages more sustainable transportation options such as walking, cycling and transit to create a transportation system that provides more choice for Calgarians. This means prioritizing investment to improve transit networks, streets that have facilities for cycling and walking, and better transportation connectivity.

Greening the city

“Conserve, protect and restore the natural environment.”

Protecting environmentally sensitive areas and promoting renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, low-impact designs for storm water management, green buildings, cycling and walking all work together to make Calgary more environmentally friendly.

Managing growth and change

“Provide leadership on growth and change within a strategic framework that achieves the best possible social, environmental and economic outcomes while operating within The City’s financial capacity.” “Provide leadership on growth and change within a strategic framework that achieves the best possible social, environmental and economic outcomes while operating within The City’s financial capacity.”

Founded on the principles of sustainable development and guided by a philosophy of fiscal responsibility and managed growth, these goals will stimulate growth and change across the city as a whole over the next 60 years.

A vibrant city with a solid growth plan should inject job creation. By posting city jobs on the City Website and utilizing other job websites for advertising careers is essential. We have lots of skilled resources at our fingertips especially with the recent downturn of the Energy Sector. A large number of residents lost their jobs in this sector over the past years. We cannot predict the price of oil and world affairs but we can utilize these skilled resources for other opportunities outside of the Energy Sector. We can retain these resources and utilize these skills in other sectors. We can work within our communities to engage more job fairs and work to attract more businesses to do business in Calgary.

As City Councillor, I will assist to balance taxes with city services by being well

informed on where our tax dollars are being spent and looking into what percentages are utilized to benefit city residents, of the taxes levied. Property tax rates are determined from polls, public engagement, review of economic and financial forecasts, socio-demographic trends, population growth projections, inflation, service plans, levels and costs. The Council approves a four-year business plan and budget, taking into consideration all these inputs and more. This happened last in November of 2013 and had the approval of the Action Plan 2015 – 2018 which again can be found on the City of Calgary website. Take in consideration that my emphasis will be focused on the concerns within my Ward but will not lose site of how it affects the entire City

I have several stances on the new arena debate for our City. Being actively involved with minor hockey for many years, I feel that having a NHL sports team representing our city has many advantages. As far as the existing proposal, I am aware of the negotiations that have taken place and am confident that the current council and the City Managers will work towards a viable solution. If I am elected, I will continue to work with council, utilizing my Negotiations skills for a Win / Win solution.

What is the biggest issue in your Ward, and what can you do as a councillor to help?

One of bigger issues in Ward 12 currently is the Safety and well being of its residents. I have been engaging with our residents of Ward 12 directly what they feel are their main concerns. My platform is based on communication and being that VOICE representing them. They want information and need to know where to go to obtain this information. It is not all about the green line, as the plans and funds are already in place, we now need to start being proactive instead of reactive for other issues. Issues like not having a police department east of the river. I feel that this is a vital part of our community safety. Why not use some other city facilities to house and accommodate small police stations or community stations – just like you may see within our shopping centres?

With the growth and encroachments of our neighbourhoods and our economic downturn, many wells and sites are now orphaned, as companies no longer operate them. These facilities are now being managed by the Orphan Well Association which falls under our provincial government. Keep in mind it will be the City of Calgary’s first responders that will be our front line. Are proper emergency response mechanisms in place to address major issues like the Fort McMurray fire. I would say not. If evacuation is not an option, how are we all going to manage to stay safe? Let’s keep our community’s safe and manage through awareness and come up with better communication and action plans, which I manage for rural Alberta projects with my career.